This invention relates to a child safety seat for use in a vehicle, of the type comprising a seat body having a seat back, a harness for a child occupant of the seat secured to the seat body and including a pair of shoulder straps extending through respective slots in the seat back to means for adjusting the effective length of the shoulder straps, a respective lap strap connected to each shoulder strap, a respective shoulder pad slidably mounted on each shoulder strap, a buckle interconnecting the lap straps at their junctions with the shoulder straps and a separable link assembly having a first link part slidably mounted on one shoulder strap and a second link part slidably mounted on the other shoulder strap, the first and second link parts having interlocking formations adapted to engage with one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,793 discloses a seat of this type in which the link assembly interconnects the bottom ends of the shoulder pads. The link assembly serves to control the distance between the shoulder straps, reducing any tendency for the shoulder straps to slip off the shoulders of a child occupant of the seat.
Since the shoulder pads and the link assembly are slidable together along the shoulder straps, they can be positioned in the desired location with the link assembly level with the child""s chest.
It is already known to provide the shoulder pads with a relatively high friction surface positioned to rest against the shoulders of the child. The shoulder pads are held by tether straps at a fixed distance from the seat back regardless of adjustment of the effective length of the shoulder straps. In the event of sudden deceleration, for example during an accident, the increased friction provided by the shoulder pads reduces the tendency for the child""s shoulders to slide forwards in the harness and thus reduces forward movement of the child""s body. The shoulder pads may be held on to the respective shoulder straps by a pair of loops, each secured near a respective end of the shoulder pad and having the shoulder strap threaded therethrough.
According to the invention, in a child safety seat of the type described above, each shoulder pad has upper and lower loops attached to upper and lower ends thereof, the corresponding shoulder strap being threaded through said upper and lower loops, and a respective fixed-length tether extends between the upper end of each shoulder pad and the seat back, respective link parts being slidably mounted on each shoulder strap between the upper and lower loops.
With this arrangement, the loops limit the range of movement of the link parts relative to the pads. Since the extend of movement of the pads towards the buckle is limited by the corresponding tether, the link parts are prevented from moving undesirably close to the buckle, in which position, they would be of limited effectiveness in restricting slippage of the shoulder straps to slip off the shoulders of a child occupant of the seat and the link might be at or near soft parts of the child""s body. The upper loops restrict movement of the link towards the child""s neck.